However, I have paid my deposit. And all I can do now is go ahead. Want to ask the owner of this kite school to publicly tell his side of the story of the allegations made against him. And not under a false name like some of the posts.

Also want to ask the guys on the forum to please recommend places in Cape Town that is reputable.

I will document my experience with this school day by day under this topic

He sounds like one of these people who basically doesn't give a shit if you disagree with him and who will never give an inch. So hopefully you will be happy with whatever he does decide to give you.

A lot of the schools in Cape Town do seem to be run by jerks. South Africans in general seem to be really uptight and paranoid from my experience - the Whites and the Blacks really don't like one another very much. Don't buy the rainbow nation crap. They frequently seem to be afraid of one another and are massively distrusting. They also seem to always have arguments over absolutely everything. That police shooting of the minors is a good example of that. Both sides hate one another and distrust one another and probably rightly so. Hence they both overreact.

Example 1: I booked my hotel in Cape Town for New Years through expedia last New Year. I get a call from the owner of the hotel when I arrive at 2 A.M. to let me know that expedia shouldn't have let me book the room for less than 7 nights (i'd only booked it for 4). The guy went on and on about it and wanted me to call Expedia to tell them that their system had failed. I said to the guy, "Buddy, it's 2 A.M. are you gonna let me into my room already? Can't we talk about this in the morning?" It wasn't a small hotel either. You'd think the guy would have something better to do the day after Christmas than argue with expedia about some glitch they made.

Example 2: I win at a large casino in Joburg called Montecristo. I take my chips to the cage. The payout is something like 100,000 rand (11k US). The guy at the cage starts quizzing me asking me which table I was playing at. I tell him over there at the blackjack table. He calls somebody. Makes me wait for 10 minutes. Tells me, "Sir, we do not see you playing on that table in any of our footage." I say over there, at the blackjack table. Another 10 minutes go buy. He makes a bunch of calls still wont cash out my chips. Finally, I start to raise my voice because well, it shouldn't take 20 minutes to cash out a measely 11k US in a major casino. The moment I raise my voice some overweight middle aged white Afrikaner butts into my conversation to say, "Boy, listen to an old man from South Africa. You do not know what these people will do to you. You haven't see what I've seen." I say thanks and let the guy know that I've been to much scarier places than a fancy casino in Jo-Burg. Finally after about 25 minutes they say, "Sir, which table were you playing at?" I point and say, "Over there, at the black jack table." Then the guy at the cage realizes that he has been calling dealer at the roullette table and next to the black jack table. I told him black jack every time. So, he's calling the dealer who turns around and sees me at the cage and he says, "Never seen that guy before." He then calls up to the security team and tells them to look at the footage of table X (the roullette table) and they of course do not see me playing roullette because I was at the blackjack table. Why a casino of this size would give a shit about an 11k cash in from a foreign national who's passport they have and who is staying at their hotel is beyond me.

I must have had at least 20 such exasperated conversations with South Africans the 10 days I was there. It became a running joke with our group. Any time someone suggested something, we'd all say, "Oh no you can't do that .... xyz will happen." The more rediculous the better. E.G. "let's go kiting!" "What kiting, no you can't do that, the sharks will eat you." Ok let's lie on the beach." "No you can't do that, sun burn will kill you."

Despite this, I still love South Africa. I've take a vacation there for the past two years and will likely go again next year. That is of course, if the sharks don't eat me first.

Who is online

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum